“… Are you serious?” Alex mutters, quickly stepping toward the retreating woman.

    She whips around almost instantly, drawing a sword with practiced ease and stabbing it straight at Alex’s throat. Instinctively, he jumps to the side, rolling across the ground to avoid it.

    As he lies there, breathing hard, realization hits him.

    Even if I hadn’t dodged, she wouldn’t have actually hit me.

    SOULMATE!

    Jewel leaps in front of the woman, glaring at her with a fierce, menacing look. Meanwhile, Menchi smiles, aware of her mean-willed prank.

    “Jewel, calm down!” Alex shouts, not wanting this to escalate into a fight.

    “Oh? Nice reaction! But… I don’t sense any chakra from you. Interesting,” the woman says with a grin. “Follow me.”

    Without waiting for a reply, she disappears into her house, leaving the door wide open behind her.

    Alex gets up slowly, brushing the dust off his clothes. He turns to Jewel and Menchi.

    “This woman is crazy… but I guess we should follow her,” he says, his face still a little pale.

    Jewel recommends caution! That woman is strong!

    “She’s harmless. She didn’t even try to hit you,” Menchi adds with a smug grin.

    “I guess so…” Alex says, sighing as Jewel climbs back onto his head. Together, they head into the house.

    Inside, the woman is already seated at a low table, tapping her fingers impatiently.

    “What took you so long, huh? Sit down! Speak! I’m busy!” she barks.

    “It’s like I told you earlier,” Alex says, dropping into a seat. “We want to buy high-quality weapons and equipment. Tenten recommended you—and we’ve got the Ryō to afford it.”

    Menchi folds her arms. “What’s your name, anyway? I’m guessing you’re some kind of famous smith?”

    “My name doesn’t concern you,” the woman says flatly. “And your Ryō? Worthless. A true master smith cares only about rare materials. As long as I have enough to eat and buy supplies, I’m satisfied. You’re in luck though—I''m running low on both. So today, you get the opportunity to spend your pitiful Ryō.”

    What a damn arrogant bitch. But... she’s not wrong. Ryō is basically worthless compared to real treasures.

    Soulmate, Queen Jewel thinks you could offer her the [Chakra Metal]. Perhaps she’ll forge a weapon for you!

    No way! We’re keeping that. It’s too small a quantity to make anything worthwhile anyway. I’m saving it for players. Naruto’s a popular franchise—tons of players will want it. It depends on whether they have already unlocked their Chakra stat. That [Chakra Metal] will be priceless in the Realm, I’m sure! Maybe we can even auction it.

    “Show us what you got then,” Alex says with a smirk.

    No way I’m wasting Gold-Quality crafting material on a no-name NPC!

    “Ryō first,” she demands, locking eyes with Alex.

    Without hesitation, Alex turns away, stepping out of sight for a moment. He quickly pulls nearly all his Ryō from his inventory and tosses it onto the table.

    I’ll keep 300,000 Ryō hidden. This hag looks desperate enough to accept whatever she gets. No need to give away everything, especially if the reward is already predetermined.

    “Here. And just so you know—if you screw us over, you’ll regret it,” Alex says, matching her hard stare.

    “Heh. Would I need to betray you over this small amount?” she scoffs. “Not even a million? Are you holding out on me? Barely enough for one of my works. You better take what you’re given and leave quietly.”

    She produces a scroll, unfurls it in one swift motion, and slams her hand onto it. With a puff of smoke, a gleaming sword materializes. She grabs it, examines it with something almost like regret—then hands it over.

    Alex takes it carefully. The system immediately recognizes it.

    [Dancing Leaf]

    World: Naruto

    Quality: Light Purple

    Type: Sword (Ninjatō)

    Required Stats: STR - 5, PHY - 5, AGI - 15, SNS - 10

    Required skills: Sword Proficiency lvl 3, Basic Footwork lvl 5

    Durability: 50/50

    Damage: 20-35

    Effect: Increases AGI by 2 (Flat boost, not increased by other skills)

    Effect: Increases Evasion and movement speed by 5%

    Effect: Increases Attack speed by 10%

    Note: Swift as the wind, this sword grants its user immense speed.

    Alex’s eyes gleam with greed as he pulls the blade close to him, almost hugging it.

    “This is decent… but for all that money, I expect more,” he says coldly, masking his excitement. Sёarch* The N?velFire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Don’t think I’m satisfied just yet! Even though... honestly, I would’ve accepted it anyway.

    “Haha, you’re funny,” the woman chuckles darkly. “You have three seconds to leave—or I’ll kill you and reclaim my sword.”

    “...”

    “...”

    “...”

    Alex exhales slowly while Menchi instinctively reaches for her knives, ready to fight.

    Jewel glares at the blacksmith, her aura bristling with malice, but the woman isn’t intimidated in the slightest.

    Sometimes you have to know when to step back. The Ryō was worthless anyway. And at least I got a damn good sword out of it.

    Even if we fought and won, it would ruin our reputation—and right now, we can''t afford that or our story mission will fail.

    “Let’s go,” Alex says calmly to his friends. “A pleasure doing business with you.”

    “Hmph,” the woman grunts, already turning her back on them.

    The group leaves, walking in silence for a few steps before Alex flashes a mischievous grin.

    “Hehe… I kept 300,000 Ryō! That was a great deal for us!”

    “You think so?” Menchi asks, raising an eyebrow, clearly skeptical.

    “Ryō is worthless to us!” Alex explains. “We can use the leftover cash to buy random stuff before we leave Konoha. And once we’re out of here, we might not get another chance to spend it properly. So yeah—getting a Purple-Quality item for what we paid? That’s a steal, in my honest opinion.”

    Soulmate is so smart. Queen Jewel praises her Soulmate.

    “No need for fake compliments, Jewel. But I’ll stick to my opinion. This was a rather fair deal. I’m satisfied with it.”

    “Let’s grab something to eat,” Alex suggests. Menchi’s eyes instantly light up with excitement.

    The group strolls through Konoha, following Alex’s lead.

    “Where are you going? I saw some restaurants earlier that looked really promising!” Menchi says, staring at him curiously.

    Is Soulmate looking for a specific place?

    “It should be around… here… I think?” Alex mutters, glancing around uncertainly.

    He continues leading them through the winding streets of Konoha, ignoring Menchi’s increasingly suspicious looks, until he finally stops in front of a small, cozy-looking shop.

    “There it is! Ramen Ichiraku,” Alex says with a satisfied smile. “It means something like ‘Ramen is the best pleasure.’ The owners are definitely a little arrogant.”

    They settle onto two empty stools at the counter. Instantly, they’re greeted with warm smiles from the shop’s owner, Teuchi, and his daughter, Ayame.

    “Welcome! What can I get you?” Teuchi asks, his voice cheerful.

    To Alex’s surprise, a system window suddenly pops open in front of him.

    He scans it quickly—apparently, he can buy a certain number of items from here, in addition to ordering a normal meal.

    Alex scrolls through the available dishes. There are several types of ramen, all with different toppings, but the system classifies them the same way:

    [Miso Ramen with Extra Pork]

    World: Naruto

    Quality: Green

    Effect: Heals 50 HP & 50 MP over 10 minutes. Must be eaten outside of combat. The effect vanishes if the player engages in battle during the healing duration.

    Note: Fresh from Ichiraku – Naruto''s Favorite dish!

    Note: Limited to 3

    Damn, the system’s lazy!

    “I’ll take three [Miso Ramen with Extra Pork] for later, and one to eat now. Add all the toppings you’ve got!” Alex says enthusiastically.

    “And ah—could you whip up some meat for the little cutie on my head? No broth needed!”

    Ayame, spotting Jewel perched proudly on Alex’s head, lets out a shriek.

    “Sure, no problem,” Teuchi says, laughing heartily. “We get all sorts of ninja customers around here with their pets. Ayame, you should be used to them by now!”

    Meanwhile, Menchi scans the menu carefully before grinning. She ends up ordering three different ramen varieties, slightly shocking Teuchi with her appetite.

    Alex gleefully adds the three [Miso Ramen with Extra Pork] to his inventory, smiling at how little Ryō he spent compared to what he gained.

    3 Green quality items! Easily worth 10,000 FC. That’s a good start! Add to that the Purple Weapon, and I think we did great!

    The food arrives quickly—steaming bowls filled with rich broth, thick noodles, mountains of toppings. The smell alone is intoxicating.

    They dig in immediately. Menchi slurps her first bite, her eyes widening in surprise and delight.

    “This is really excellent… in fact, this dish opened a door to a whole new world for me. Old man, I’m grateful!” she says sincerely, bowing slightly to Teuchi, who blushes at the rare heartfelt praise.

    Menchi then flashes Alex a bright, genuine smile.

    Alex, caught off guard, feels his cheeks heat up slightly.

    Damn it… this girl really knows how to smile when she wants to.

    But just as they’re enjoying the peaceful moment, a sudden loud grumble echoes nearby.

    A boy in an orange jacket and matching orange pants rushes over, sliding onto a stool beside them.

    “Old man, give me the usual! Fast! I’m starving!” he cries out dramatically, clutching his rumbling stomach.

    Alex turns his head, instantly recognizing the loud newcomer.